Elles Bougent at Le Bourget

This year, 13 Safran women sponsors working as engineers and technicians told 150 high-school girls about our fields of expertise, jobs and career prospects, in an event organized by Elles Bougent (Women on the Move), a non-profit. Here’s more about their day at the Paris Air Show.

Thierry Mamberti / Safran

Elles Bougent (Women on the Move), a non-profit that Safran has been supporting for over 10 years, invited 150 first- and second-year high-school girls to the Paris Air Show, to encourage them to consider careers in engineering and technical fields, this Thursday June 22, 2017. The goal for Safran is to foster talent diversity in the Group, which is one of its main strategic aims for its recruitment policy.

The program included an "aeroquiz", presentation on Safran's fields of expertise (Hall 2A – 228-252) alongside Safran's women ambassadors, chats with operators at the Careers Plane, a visit to the Air & Space Museum, meetings, roundtables with the 50 women sponsors from various aerospace companies (including 13 working at Safran), and a group photo shot to wrap up this day packed with information about jobs and careers in this sector.

Thierry Mamberti / Safran

One of the second-year girls said, "I already knew a bit about it; last year I took an aviation class in high school. This Elles Bougent day is a great opportunity for girls to start looking into sectors they wouldn't necessarily have thought about. Because there are no more men-only careers! I want to study engineering, and learn all I can to design and build technology jewels like the ones we can see here at the show."

Afaf Sornin, an engineer and manager on Safran's engine development testing team, adds, "Lots of women don't know what engineers do, really. And yet taking women on in these companies and industries is what will make society move forward. At the 2015 Paris Air Show, a student told me she had had an aha-moment when we spoke and that she was aiming to study engineering now. It's so wonderful when you hear that sort of thing!"

Claudine Barruet, who heads up operating safety and security at Safran Electronics & Defense, told the young girls, "Tackling tomorrow's technical challenges: that's what you can look forward to as engineers. Be bold, choose science and believe in yourselves because our companies need you!"

Diversity brings in a wealth of profiles and viewpoints, which are essential to spur creativity and innovation. The Elles Bougent women ambassador network has 3,000 sponsors, including 250 Safran employees. They serve as correspondents among girls in high schools that have joined the organization and take part in several information campaigns year-round. Today, 26% of Safran's employees worldwide are women – and 36% of the people we hired in 2016 are women. "The aviation industry is a big employer. So we have to set the example on the diversity front. It's vital to keep on telling young women about jobs and careers with us, to interest them in working in our sector," Alain Lorgeoux, head of Diversity at Safran, points out.

Thierry Mamberti / Safran

Also to tell young women about jobs and careers in aviation, the Careers Plane at the Paris Air Show welcomed Féminisons, another non-profit, this week. Féminisons brought a group of middle-school students to talk to operators about a variety of fields of expertise, and watch demos live.